Sunday, March 27, 2011

Morales locked up the backup catcher job before this afternoon, but his performance today put a stamp on it.

Jordan Pacheco gave it one helluva run, but I have no problem at all with Morales getting the gig. Pacheco needs to play. Morales gives you what you need in a backup. He can hit well from both sides of the plate, and he plays sound defense. It clears the way for Iannetta to get steady playing time, which hopefully leads to consistent production.

Clayton Mortensen

Mortensen was awesome today, throwing five shutout innings, allowing only three hits and striking out one.

John Maine will likely get the call if the Rockies need a starter early in the season, but Mortensen at least wants them to think about it. Also, with Maine having an opt out clause should he not make the big leagues by June 1st, Mortensen becomes an even more valuable piece. Whatever happens there, chances are good we'll see him at some point in 2011.

Matt Daley

Daley's ERA stayed at a perfect 0.00 today. Unfortunately (for Matt at least), that won't be good enough to crack the opening day roster. An established veteran and a fan favorite can't crack the roster with a 0.00 ERA. Think about that.

Misses

Billy Buckner

Bad again today. I didn't have high hopes for Buckner, but I did expect him to be respectable and a little better that AAA roster fodder. He may not even be that at this point.

Foul Tips

Bullpen set

Matt Reynolds pitched just well enough over the last two weeks to lock up the final spot in the Rockies bullpen. He will join Huston Street, Rafael Betancourt, Matt Belisle, Matt Lindstrom, Felipe Paulino, Franklin Morales, Matt Reynolds.

The starting rotation is obviously Ubaldo Jimenez, Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin, Jason Hammel and Esmil Rogers. Rogers will not be skipped the first time through the rotation, which I like for two reasons.

1) It shows he has earned Jim Tracy's confidence.

2) It save Ubaldo's arm early in the season. That means the Rockies learned a little bit from last year and are working towards keeping him strong in the second half.

Oddly, these are the twelve pitchers I think the Rockies and most fans envisioned making the team out of camp, with Rogers and Paulino possibly switching roles, and maybe Matt Daley working into the mix. That rarely ever happens.

Good at pitching. Next time we see The Cheif the 2011 season will be officially underway. Relievers Huston Street and Felipe Paulino were equally outstanding in their scoreless innings.

Willy Taveras

The Taveras resurgence continues with three more hits and two runs scored. Great spring and great depth for the Rockies if he sticks in the organization.

Misses

Franklin Morales

Morales is kind of wavering between good and bad lately. Of course the bad will be overreacted to by people with bad memories from last season. And it doesn't help in people's minds that he's made the roster over Matt Daley. Problem is the Rockies want two lefties in the pen, and Daley, while talented and effective, can only pitch with his right arm.

Foul Tips

Mark Tracy

In a cool moment, Jim Tracy's son was allowed an opportunity to pinch-hit. He walked on five pitches, showing more discipline in one at-bat than the Rockies did on their entire trip through Pittsburgh and New York last summer.